1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of medical equipment, specifically to a device for use in spinal surgery such as a diskectomy and spinal fusion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Anterior cervical diskectomy and corpectomy have been utilized for the treatment of cervical radiculopathy, myelopathy, and myeloradiculopathy for over 50 years. The traditional methods for treatment of the single level and two-level decompressions have been the Cloward technique and the Smith-Robinson technique. Both techniques typically involve removing the disk and a portion of the end plate and inserting a graft. In the Cloward technique, a circular bone dowel of autologous or allograft bone is inserted into the defect in order to fuse the two adjacent vertebrae. In the Smith-Robinson technique, a horseshoe shaped graft is taken either from the patient's iliac crest or from allograft bone and inserted in the interspace.
The literature over the years shows that such fusions have a relatively poor success rate without stabilization with plate fixation. Some of the reasons for failure include pesudarthrosis, poor fixation (improper placement of the screws), improper placement of the graft, poor fixation of the graft, poor preparation of the cartilaginous end plates, and improper placement of the plate. As fusions, and especially multi-level fusions become more common, the need to improve the fusion rate in these surgeries is becoming more pronounced.